Nickelodeon’s iCarly was added to Netflix earlier this month. With its release, came the resurgence of iCarly fans raving about the show they had enjoyed as a kid over social media platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram and even Youtube. While streaming services are outputting an insane amount of new content throughout 2021, nostalgic shows from 2000s Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney Channel are re-entering popularity for young adults. Given this popularity, it’s no surprise how successfully iCarly has re-entered the public sphere.
iCarly centers around a group of tween friends, Carly (Miranda Cosgrove), Sam (Jennette McCurdy) and Freddie (Nathan Kress), who start a web series, known as icarly, that becomes extremely popular. Throughout the series, the friends go on wacky adventures relating to their consequent fame and growing up in the age of the internet. The show is bright, fun and offers humor derived mostly from the randomness and absurdity of their lives.
Fans of the show have been trying to catch up on the lives of the real life actors that played their favorite childhood characters as well. With this revival, the cast has also re-entered the limelight. A video of Jerry Trainor, who played Spencer Shay (Carly’s brother), making his famous spaghetti tacos blew up on Tiktok and Youtube recently—even though it was posted about a year ago. After all, it’s been almost ten years since iCarly ended; Nathan Kress started a family, Miranda Cosgrove acted in the Despicable Me franchise and Jennette McCurdy now hosts her own podcast, Empty Inside.
While most fans are ecstatic about rediscovering their love for iCarly, others were upset by Netflix only adding two seasons, as opposed to the full six- season series which ran from 2007-2012. There are over forty episodes of the show missing, which is likely due to Nickelodeon not allowing the full series to be released on services other than CBS+. Another Nickelodeon show, Avatar: The Last Airbender, was also uploaded to Netflix with episodes missing—so it’s safe to say that it’s not all Netflix’s fault.
The matter of how many seasons were added is rather small in relation to some of the other issues that come along with giving iCarly a second life. For example, the head producer and writer of iCarly, Dan Schneider, has become a controversial figure in the years since the show ended. Several actors that have worked with him have come forward about how uncomfortable he made them feel on set and behind the scenes. Jennette McCurdy, after working with Schneider on iCarly and it’s spin off Sam and Cat, said “I was put in an uncomfortable, compromising, unfair situation, and I had to look out for me.” This came right after McCurdy did not attend the 2014 Teen Choice Awards where Scheider received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
At this point, this is entirely speculation since Nickelodeon parted ways with Dan Schneider in 2018 and the stars have moved on to their independent adult careers. Although, it’s sad to think that the cast of iCarly may not have enjoyed making the show as much as people enjoyed watching it. The show’s reforged popularity has demonstrated just how much nostalgia can impact people’s choices of entertainment. And while fans may be sulking after they finish Netflix’s iCarly offering, many will be pleased to know that a reboot is in the works with Paramount+, with most members of the original cast returning.
‘iCarly’ is available to stream on Netflix and CBS+.
By Kyra Matus